Human? If Only...
by Lyra Kamiya
Summary: (sequel, human? I Wish... NOT!!) You'd think enough wishes had been made to screw things up to the point of no return... But there's still an undisclosed number of Gijinkas, Chikorita's going to be a mother, and now Gary's gone missing...
1. Golden smile

Memo to the bunch of you: *never* ask me to do a sequel

Reading "Human? I Wish… NOT!!" before this isn't necessary, but this might make a little more sense with that background… It is a sequel, after all…  
Here it is then, the sequel I doubt you were actually waiting for. And this time I only used quotes from pokesongs -_-' and also yes I know (I have for two weeks!) that Vulpix is gone by now, but I don't give a whosididdle 'cause some of us just get mental breakdowns from these things… (*she and Adrie both hug their Vulpix plushies* "shh it's ok I won't let them take you…") Oh, and I don't own pokémon! Otherwise Brock would be missing and Vulpix would still be there!

"Hey, Ash! Wait up!"

"Hmm? Oh, hi Mist!" Ash smiled and put his arm around his girlfriend's waist. He laughed as he did… so he'd finally reached a height greater than hers… "Whatcha been up to?" he grinned.

"Nothin, really…" she smiled and cuddled up to him before giving him a quick kiss. "Been training hard?"

"No…" he admitted. "How could I, when I've got better things to think about. Like you." She grinned at him in response. Ash was about to enter the Johto league finals, only a few days away, and Misty had been helping him to train, when they weren't doing other things. "Oh, look at that… how cute!" she giggled and pointed towards where Chikorita was playing, chattering to something behind a tree. "She's changed a lot, since… well, you know…" Ash dropped into a complete silence.

"You're saying we haven't?"

Ash laughed and kissed her instead of answering. "You know what though? I thought Smeargle weren't supposed to live around here…" he commented, pointing to one that was running around a nearby bush. It looked at them and darted into it.

"I'd say ask Brock but I know as well as you do he and Tracey left, er… disappeared…"

"Not like that's necessarily a bad thing…"

****

Human? If only…

1-Golden Smile

Lyra of Destiny

"Hey… isn't that a Delibird?" Misty pointed to something behind a bush. The penguin in question panicked and ducked completely behind the bush before waddling around the corner.

"Yeah, I think it was. But those I know for certain don't just hang around the Indigo Plateau…"

**********

Brock wandered along, muttering to himself, a bag in his hand. "Now where'd they… ah-hah!"

"Finally! What took you so long?" Tracey asked, looking up from his green-only sketch of Chikorita. [A/N: I'd whine about the being to much like a girl Tracey right now except my Chikoritas all look really chubby]

"Well I would've been longer except I almost got caught, thank you very much," Brock snorted before looking over Tracey's shoulder at the sketch. O_O' "You know… maybe you should stay away from the painting thing?"

"Just shuddup, will you?"

"I think it looks kinda cute. And a lot like me… thank you, Tracey!" Chikorita said hyperly and kissed him on the cheek. "Wait 'till I show Ash 'n everyone!"

"Please… don't? They'll know it was me who drew it, and I'm supposed to be back home, *remember*?"

"Oh, right. Can I still show the other pokémon?"

"Just don't let Pikachu see it."

"See what?" a girl said with a smile, wandering up behind the three. She had long, deep magenta colored hair that was fairly curly and yet lacked the 'middle-school' appearance that hair of that type always gave people [Trust me it does most people]. Her eyes, in retrospect, were a cool crystalline brown, and her smile was almost too calm compared to the clear intensity of her personality. And yet somehow, she seemed to have some type of mystical aura about her… she didn't seem quite… human… But yet here she was, standing there, a beautiful human girl, around age 17, with a set of pokéballs proudly displayed on her belt. There was also a seventh, almost decorative pokéball attached to an invisible line around her neck. She was one of those girls that everyone would expect both Brock and Tracey to be instantly drooling over. And yet they weren't. "Ooo… that's good," she smiled, patting Tracey on the head.

"Hmm thanks…"

"I don't see why you three think you need to hide from them… I think Misty at least would be quite happy to see at least you," Chikorita looked up at the human girl.

"We have our reasons… Sorry, Rita, but I can't do that yet…" she answered, then turned to Tracey and Brock, "You two find out anything? Or at least have any luck on your own objectives?" she said slyly.

"Well, he-" Brock started to say, but was then knocked to the ground 'mysteriously', a few green-painted feathers following him.

"We didn't really achieve anything today, except I think he may have found something out…" Tracey said innocently.

"Ooo what, what? What do you need to know?" Chikorita began jumping up and down.

"Um…" the girl tilted her head to one side quizzically. "Any clue what rooms they're in?"

"Not rooms or even room. They've got a condo, it's the yellow one on pine near the pokémon center," Chikorita responded happily. "And there's one for rent next door if you need it…"

"What color is it?" the girl asked the grass type.

"Red."

"We'll take it." Brock and Tracey both sighed… they could recognize the all too common look on each others' faces…

__

She's hopeless.

"Hey, Chikorita!"

"Chikorita, where you at?"

"Oh no! Ash and Misty are coming this way!" Chikorita panicked.

"Run!" Tracey yelled. "Someone, quick, hide the painting!"

"Play it cool," Brock contradicted. "Hopefully they won't recognize us."

"They'd have to run into us sooner or later, so we stay," the girl mumbled, trying to avoid the instinct she had at the moment to run away.

"Why do you always pick his side?" Tracey whined.

"I don't."

"She doesn't. I'm just the straight one here, that's all," Brock chuckled under his breath.

"Chikorita?! Oh, there you are!" Ash smiled at his second favorite pokémon, who, since recent events, he kept out almost as much as Pikachu, (snoozing in Ash's backpack by the way. And you'll see Togepi's location.) grinned and jumped into his arms. "um, hi…" he looked at the girl.

*blink, blink* "I guess this explains the strange pokémon we've seen around here today," Misty added. "You're a trainer then?"

"Uh-huh… oh, I'm sorry… my name is Vixie, um, Nokoro…" Ash and Misty both nodded slowly in response. "It's short for Vixirenagale. Don't ask me where I got that name…" she sighed sheepishly.

"Oh… Well, I'm Ash Ketchum," Ash held out his hand.

"I'm Misty Yawa," Misty added. [that's her Japanese last name! Deal with it!] "you'll have to forgive me if I stare… you just seem familiar…" Vixie's eyes enlarged as she heard the comment.

__

Oh no, if they figure it out… "Well, no offense, but I gotta get going. I'm still house shopping…" she admitted, wandering off at a reasonably quick pace, the two guys giving chase. "Good luck in the league, Ash!"

"How'd she know only I was entering?"

"Maybe she didn't. maybe she just thinks you're cute," Misty suggested.

"Wa please, no."

"She better! Otherwise she's got really poor taste… But either way I'd have to punch her for it…" she grinned, as they headed back towards their condo (yes Ash's mom is staying there with them :P). _And you better not get any ideas because I know you and you're a lot like every other teenage guy I know… meaning you probably think that girl _

Different, ne? Anyway, if you figured at least part of it out already, don't say it in a review. E-mail me if you simply must say it ([CCRya@aol.com][1]), I'm always in the mood for mail. I'm not sure if I wanna go through with this series or not, I think it may be a bad idea to have attempted a sequel… I dunno, you tell me. Review please! Ja ne to heiwa!

   [1]: mailto:CCRya@aol.com



	2. Silver Moon

*blink, blink* don't tell me NO ONE know *any* of the songs from the last story for the contest

*blink, blink* don't tell me NO ONE know *any* of the songs from the last story for the contest? *looks over list* there are at least 3 really obvious ones… oh well, fine, how about this. I'm gonna re-post the last chapter of the last one with this info too. You all have until November 18 (19 if you're fortunate enough to live on the other side of the date line) to send me the names of as many of those songs as you can identify. The person with the most wins, and my hint thing is still applicable. Oh, and you might wanna start figuring out the songs for this one… They're all pokémon related. I'm using some songs twice though…

"You know, I'm starting to agree with Chikorita… why *do* we have to keep this such a big secret from Ash & Misty?" Brock sighed, looking out the window of the red condo at his old friends as he paced by it. Tracey glanced at him momentarily, then tried to go back to his drawing but instead burst out laughing. "And what, exactly, are you laughing at?"

"You!" Tracey admitted, rolling around on the floor.

"Hate to break it to you, but you look a heck of a lot funnier than I do…"

"Yeah, but you waddle!!"

****

Human? If Only…

2-Silver Moon

Lyra of Destiny

"You two at it again?" Vixie sighed, climbing up the stairs and shacking her head sadly at her two companions.

"Sorry, I just can't help it… he's so funny looking when he's waddling back and forth like that!"

"It's not like you don't have your own faults, I mean, a beret and a bandana both? It's a little much…"

"Well, at least you two are making fun of each other this time…" Vixie sighed, placing her head in her hand. "It's an improvement over spying on those two while they're kissing.

"Uh… don't remind me, ok?" both boys said at once.

"Oh, and why not?"

"'cause that was just a slight bit disturbing," Tracey said.

"'Cause it's still not fair!!" Brock complained.

"And I was referring to him being disturbing, not them," Tracey added.

Vixie just sighed and walked away silently, knowing that she'd be cooking dinner again, so that she wouldn't here more complaints from the guys… one more complaint about feathers in the soup or green chicken was going to give her a bigger headache than the guys had already caused…

She sat down in the kitchen and looked around… the white walls of the room now had green splatters here and there across them, and random packages laid scattered throughout the room. She knew not to touch any of them, for fear of them exploding… _Nothing's turned out quite like we thought it would… When Tracey made that wish to Celebi, I thought for sure all our lives would get better, but the guys both ended up nothing like they thought they would… And then Marril ran off, then Chikorita found out about us…_ she glanced out the window at the dimming sky… _All I can do is hope we can keep this from Ash and Misty for as long as possible… or at least through the majority of the tournament…_ she heard a crash upstairs, followed by a stubborn squawking. _Or else they'll have as many problems as me…_

**********

A young girl, about 12, wandered slowly through the light crowds in the pokémon village. Her deep blue hair, formed into buns on each side of her head, glistened in the crimson light of the setting sun. But something on her face also glistened and shone as she wandered along… a stream of silent tears, that slid down her face each time she blinked her crystal blue eyes… She glanced sadly from side to side, searching…

"I'm so sorry… I shouldn't of run off… just someone, come find me…" she whispered to no one in particular. "I'm so tired…" she sat down against the wall of an alley. She looked down the street, to where she could see the waning moon rising just on the horizon, and another tear slipped down her cheek. She held up a pokéball slowly so that it fully filled the outline of the moon. "Please… I'm so lost…"

*********

"Oh, wow… Isn't the moon beautiful tonight Ash?" Misty smiled at the sight of the celestial body that had just completely cleared the horizon, as she leaned against Ash, on bench outside their condo…

"Mmm-hmm…" Ash muttered, not caring to look up from where he had his face buried in ;her hair… she smelled so nice, like some kind of flower… he felt her lean further in to him, sighing softly. He finally looked up at the site she'd pointed out. "It is… but I can think of plenty of better things," he teased, leaning down to gently kiss her neck.

"Hmm well I better be on that list or you're gonna have a lot of explaining to do…" she giggled. A light fluttering sound behind them alerted her… "Ahh, how's my baby?" she leaned back and pulled Togetic out of midair and into her arms. He chirped happily in response, hugging both his 'parents' to the best of his ability, considering his tiny arms, before fluttering off. Pikachu and Chikorita soon poked their heads out from a nearby bush and took off after their 'nephew', as Togetic had adopted all the pokémon as his uncles and aunts. Misty sighed heavily and nuzzled Ash again… "It's just like we're one big family," she said with a laugh.

Ash nodded in agreement and kissed her again before looking back up at the moon. _We've come so far, in these few months… I would have never imagined *anything* like this could ever be true… but now… Now she's here in my arms, and it's just us, watching the stars together… and our pokémon… I never thought I'd see the day that Chikorita and Pikachu got along… And Togetic… he evolved the moment Misty and I walked back inside the pokémon center, hand in hand…Then again, I take it any kid would be happy to see their parents together finally…_ he shook his head and laughed.

"Hmm? Whatcha thinking about, Ash?"

"Just that… Everything's so… Perfect, right now…" he smiled and hugged her to him.

"Ash! Misty! If I come out there you two better be behaving yourselves!!!

"Except that," he said under his breath, causing Misty to start laughing at him. "Relax, mom, we are!" he yelled back. "I mean, if we weren't, what kind of a reputation would that give me if I were to win at the tournament?" he asked Misty. She shrugged and nodded.

"I mean it, you two! I don't want another episode like when you all got back!"

Ash's face went bright red, and Misty's quickly followed suit. "Mrs. K! We told you, we didn't do anything!" she complained, jumping up.

"I know," Delia laughed, walking outside. "I just hoped my comments would get you two to come inside, but I guess I have to resort to the apple pie tactic…" she held the steaming desert in front of her.

"Race ya!"

"No way, mister, it's mine!"

And with that, they both went laughing and running back to the door.

**********

__

It's nice to check in on old friends, Celebi thought, _Especially when you get to check on new ones at the same time!_ It giggled and flew down, hovering between the tan condo and the red one next door. _Hmm… everyone seems to be fine, and having fun, but there's one missing… I think…_ It landed on the ground and glanced around. "And another one that's around here somewhere, who I wanna talk too…"

"You mean me?" Chikorita smiled, popping out behind Celebi.

"Why yes, in fact…"

"Ah, I didn't scare you?" she whined, sitting down stubbornly in mock anger with her mystical friend. "There are certain downsides to you having psychic powers, you know that Celebi?"

"Yes I do realize that. And I take it you have met your new neighbors?" Celebi smiled and pointed to the red condo.

"Uh-huh *I* told them that that house was open. Vulpix didn't want to listen to me, until she found out it was red, but… Now all our old friends are right next door to us… for the next three weeks…" Chikorita added quickly.

"But someone's missing," Celebi observed calmly.

"Um… yeah… Marril ran away when she first…"

"Oh no… Why do you younger girls always have to be so independent?" Celebi shook its head sadly.

"Not like you'd know. You're not even a guy…" Chikorita tried to stifle a laugh.

"So, what? However, I think that I'll go look for her. I need you to keep watch on the other three here, though, alright? And don't let your trainer know. I'm not sure why, but somehow I think this was supposed to happen as well, and I don't need another mistake like the one we almost made last time…"

"You got it, Celebi! You can count on me!" she used her leaf to salute the little legendary pokémon as it flew off towards town, in search of their missing companion.

**********

__

I hate leaving those two alone here, but… Marril is out there somewhere, and I gotta find her… and after all, it's not like things can get any more chaotic around here without throwing in a few Jynx, Vixie thought with a laugh, slipping quietly out the door, as to not wake Brock or Tracey. She gently placed the hood of her jacket over her head, trying not to disturb the carefully brushed curls, and then closed the door silently behind her before padding off down the street.

**********

"Hey, where's she headed?"

"What are you looking at, Ash?"

"That girl we met at the park yesterday… she's going down the street for some odd reason. Uh-oh…"

"What?"

"She dropped something. And she's still walking."

"Hey, Ash?"

"yeah?"

"I'm bored. There's nothing to do here, so let's follow her, and give her back whatever she dropped," Misty suggested, already pulling her jacket from the closet.

"My thoughts exactly."

And the search is on!!! Why have Marril lost? Mostly because she's the other cute local pokémon that hasn't already been thrown in. I'm betting there'll be more to come having the pokémon randomly between species… gaie, I've said too much already. Review please! And I finished my drawing of Vixie, so if you want it: [CCRya@aol.com][1]. Ja ne to heiwa!

   [1]: mailto:CCRya@aol.com



	3. Naka naka

I'm not really gonna say anything at the moment

I'm not really gonna say anything at the moment... because I'm bound to explode at the universe if I do... so I'll just remind you all that the Twerpette Trio account is up, and thank those of you who've reviewed this, brought the original "Human?"'s reviews to nearly 75, and are actually reviewing Eeveelutional. Now onto the story before my willpower completely collapses. 

Ash smiled watching Misty walk beside him as they headed off after the girl named Vixie. He shoved the wallet that he'd picked up, that had her trainers license inside, into his jacket pocket. There was something else in the pocket already though... he pulled it out; a crumpled note, written in fancy script, with another, less readable, note folded inside it. As he unfolded them and read them, he realized exactly how long it really had been since he'd last worn his once-trademark jacket./p

****

Human? If Only…

3-Naka naka (Through anywhere)

Lyra of Destiny

Ok, so only about a month in reality, but these were the notes that Tracey and Brock had left when they'd both gone off to... wherever, probably home, one that morning, the other that evening... Only they hadn't been able to reach either at their homes, and had expected that Tracey was still in route and Brock was off training... he glanced over the notes again...

"Dear everyone,

Thanks for letting me stick around for so long, but I think it's about time I got back to my own life, and stopped bumming off Professor Oak. There's been enough new pokémon discovered lately, that I'll have plenty to see, but I'll come back and visit! Good luck at the league, and with Misty, right Ash? Later,

Tracey"

Ash folded it back up, and read the other one...

"To Ash, Misty, etc., 

Well, looks like you two don't need me around anymore, and my job is done, so I'll see everyone around. Things are probably getting chaotic back home again anyway, so it's probably best I go. I'll try and swing by the stadium while you're in the league finals, Ash. And stay out of trouble you two! I don't feel like being a godfather anytime soon! 

Brock"

Ash rolled his eyes and shoved that letter back into his pocket as well. "Like we'd name him the godfather anyway," Ash said smugly. "Now, now, get any ideas and I'll be forced to pull something drastic," Misty teased, knowing he'd just been looking at the letters again.

"Like what?"

"Tickle you?" Misty suggested, staring off at the sky innocently. Ash stared wide eyed at her for a moment.

"You wouldn't dare!"

"You wanna bet on that?" she laughed, and started chasing him down the street. Anyone passing could have easily mistaken them for best friends, brother and sister, or even just a normal pair of rowdy teens, chasing each other down, in the midst of some fight or just simply a game of tag. That was the true wonder of their relationship; Misty was now nearly 16, and Ash was 14, but they were still children at heart... Their relationship had different extremes as well, and although they still argued commonly, it was even more of lovers spats then it had been in the past, and everyone who knew them knew the problem could be solved by a simple kiss. And although they often seemed childish in their ways, that was only the public face of their love. They definitely had a more passionate side, and though they had not gone to any true extremes, they knew and trusted each other enough that they would, if given the option, commit that act nearly as readily as they would simply sit in each other's company, enjoying a night's silence.

They both halted their chase, winded, and collapsed against a wall, sharing a kiss and ignoring the strange glances they were receiving from passerbys. And then something caught their ears.... 

"Ash, did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Sounds like someone crying..." Misty stood up and turned around, to look around the corner and into the alley. There, sitting curled up in to a ball on the ground, was a young girl, with blue hair, blue jeans, and a purple sweater.

A pokéball hung on a chain around her neck, and she held it in her hand as she buried her face in her other arm, crying softly. "Hi there... hey, are you alright?"

Misty said softly, kneeling by the girl's feet. 

The girl sniffed and wiped her nose before looking up at Misty. Once she looked at her, her eyes enlarged greatly in surprise. "But you... you're... Hi, Misty!" she smiled, standing up. Misty did the same quickly. The girl only came up to about her shoulder... she was probably about 12... she smiled again and gave Misty a large hug. 

"I'm sorry, but do I know you little girl?"

"I dunno," she admitted, looking up at Misty sadly. "I think you do... but I know you! You're Misty, and you traveled with Tracey!" Ash and Misty looked at each other and shrugged, stumped by the little girl's strange comments.

"And you would be...?"

"Oh, I'm Martha, his, um, cousin!" she smiled. "Yep, I'm Martha Urima! I'm here with my friend Vixie Konoro... but... I ran away..." she admitted shyly. "I bet she's looking for me, but... I don't know, where she is..." 

"Well, we have this misfortune of being neighbor to her, and her Smeargle," Ash grinned. Misty elbowed him gently. "What? There's green paint all over everything! Not to mention that exploding package in the mailbox two days ago... I just *know* her Delibird put it there..." 

Martha, by this point, had begun giggling heavily. "I'm sorry," she laughed, "That's actually, um, my Smeargle... I'll tell him to tone down his drawing a little bit... but so you know where she is? Can you take me there?" she pleaded, her pale blue eyes shining. 

"Uh..."

"I guess we can... we were sorta, um, following her down here, in the first place, to find her and give her back her wallet. But, I guess we lost track of her..."

"That's an understatement, if there ever was one..." Misty mumbled, playfully batting the side of his head. "C'mon, we'll get you home."

"Really? Thank you so much!" she smiled and took both their hands. Ash and Misty glanced nervously at each other. Martha was obviously about 12, but she acted *much* younger... not to mention, having a kid standing between them made them both extremely nervous...

**********

"Ah, thank goodness, they found her..." Celebi smiled, flying over to the next building. "I just wish my powers were stronger this far from the forest... I could have found her much more quickly... but now, the challenge is to find Vixie, and tell her that Martha's ok... but that shouldn't be too hard. After all, this is just the pokémon league village," it stopped near a pokémon center, thinking it saw the Gijinka girl's characteristic pink hairdo through the crowd. "How many girls with pink hair can there be in this town?"

For Celebi, it would be a long night... 

**********

"Ah, lookie how cute the little couple is with their happy little family…"

"Brock, just leave them alone!" Tracey wacked the back of his head in irritation. "Besides, that's Martha they're with."

"That's her?!" Brock stared out the window at the little girl who was thanking their friends and running up the stairs to the building. He attempted to rub the back of his head, but was unsuccessful in reaching it. "Dang, why'd you have to hit me so hard? And my heads probably all green now…" Tracey started laughing at him. "But it can't look as weird as you. I mean, a bandana *and* a beret? Where do you come up with these things?"

"Hey, Brock!! Tracey!! I'm back, finally!" Martha smiled, running up the stairs. "Hey, how are you guys?" she picked up Tracey and hugged him. Logically, this scene should have been reversed, but somehow it just made more sense this way at present moment… "Oh, And I promised Ash I'd tell you that you need to stop painting everything, ok? He and Misty said everything was green over there. And boy, do Vixie and I owe you a talking to," she looked at Brock sternly. "You almost fried Ash's arm off!"

"What? What'd I do?"

"Martha?! Martha?! Oh, you little brat, if you weren't so cute I'd spank you for running off like that!!!" Vixie came running up the stairs and joined them. "You should be very thankful for being where you are right now. Your trainer got us how we are, and I'm paying for the room and board here." She looked down at Martha, who was about to start crying. "Ah, man… why does your species have to be so dang'd cute when they cry? Now put down Tracey and come give me a hug…"she sighed, hugging the young girl. "But if I find out you're just using a charm attack on me, I'm gonna have to get drastic!"

"But I'm super effective against you!!" Martha stuck her tongue out at the older girl.

"Sigh… Brock, did you ever think you'd hear this conversation?"

"Sadly… yes. But not in English."

people, *SO* sorry that this one was incredibly short... my compu went screwy, and is doing the actual HTML formatting, so I really don't feel like writing more quote symbols and paragraph indicators out today... I'll make it up to you all next time, I promise... just please, review! Ja ne to heiwa *bow*.


	4. Big Trouble

*blink, blink* My name has changed again… "The Edge" refers to Reality's Edge, and it's Lyra of The Edge fully. But anyway, Alex, you wanted to know what Vixie was wearing? E-mail me, CCRya@aol.com, I have pictures or else just a description I can send you, of both her and of Martha. See you people around!

"What are you laughing at this time, bandana-boy?" Brock grumbled, shoving another box into a bag he was carrying. He and Tracey were currently cleaning up the kitchen, and the mess therein that they had caused, as Vixie and Martha cooked dinner while they waited for their guests to arrive. Those guests, of course, being Ash, Misty, and any pokémon they felt like bringing.

"I'm sorry you look hilarious in that pink apron is all…" Tracey fell to the floor… giggling… leaving another splotch of green paint behind him.

"Ahh, man, I just cleaned that spot five minutes ago! Can't you wrap a plastic bag around that thing or something? And I like the apron… at least it's not covering a lobotomy scar like your bandana."

"Sorry… Hey!"

****

Human? If Only…

4-Big Trouble

Lyra of The Edge

**********

[Lyra: Starts giggling about the title…]

**********

"Hey, Ash, what's wrong?"

"Oh… hi mom… Nothing, I'm just waiting for Misty to get back from the mall. She went shopping without me… said she needed to get some things from stores I wouldn't be aloud into…"

"Oh, that's just something you'll have to get used to, I'm afraid. You two can't be together constantly, you know?"

"Yeah… but I've just started getting paranoid whenever she's out of my sight for even five minutes…" he coughed to clear his throat, then looked back at his mom with a near sneer on his face. "Ah, man, my voice is doing that again… when will it realize that it can't go back?" he joked. His mom looked at him for a moment, smiling and trying not to cry, she slowly walked away…

"I'll get something for you to have for lunch."

"Ok, thanks mom!"

__

Why did my little boy have to grow up so fast? I know most mothers must feel like this, but… One day he left with his Pikachu on a pokémon journey, and what seemed like barely any time later, he comes home, having saved the world a few times, haven fallen in love with his traveling companion of four years, and nearly the greatest trainer in the world… And everything else, too…The bravery and personality of an adult, he's grown up without me… she thought sadly, walking on into the kitchen. _At least I know he's been well taken care of…_

**********

Ash was going through nearly the same thought process in the next room, thinking how bad his mom must feel that she'd missed… nearly everything, in the last 4 years. But already his mind had shifted to other thoughts. Those girls next door, who had invited them over for dinner, they were so… familiar… Like he'd met them before… And he'd seen Vixie apparently talking to the two pokémon that were always running around over there, the strange Delibird and Smeargle… the Smeargle especially bugged him, because it was always wearing that strange bandana, and liked to hang around Chikorita a lot… It was so strange…

__

Why do I get the feeling… that I've met them before? I could swear I've talked to someone before, who had Vixie's exact voice, and the same personality… Yet I don't remember what she said…It's like, she wasn't human or something… he stared out the window and spotted Martha run past, blue buns in her hair bobbing like the tail of a Marril in water, with his own Totodile chasing behind her. The call he heard him yell was the same one he always had before, in his Brock-like moments. "Oh, fantastic, he thinks Martha's a girl water pokémon…" he stopped as he remembered the comparison he'd just made between her hair and a Marril's tail. And her voice sounded familiar, too…

"Could it be? Nah…" _It's not like some random Marril would just wish herself human and claim randomly to be Tracey's cousin… and she's got all those pokémon too, including that semi-annoying Smeargle, with it's bandana… It looks like Tracey's bandana, I guess… Strange… but no way, not like this could all happen. It's either a coincidence or a freak of nature…_ he watched the two continue to play outside, and he remembered the days when his old friends were still around… they actually qualified as freaks of nature, but just the same… He'd have to run the idea past Misty before he jumped to any strange conclusions.

"Chikori? [Ash?]" speaking of Chikorita, she just happened to have walked in right then, and was looking up at Ash sadly.

"What's wrong, 'Rita?" he smiled. He had had a tendency to call her by that, ever since the whole turning into a human thing.

"Chiko…" she nuzzled his leg. He knew from the tone in her voice that she wasn't reverting back to her old self. She just thought Ash was sad, and was trying to cheer him up.

"Hey, I'm fine, see?" he smiled. She grinned enthusiastically and jumped up on his lap, curling up beside a sleeping Pikachu, and snuggling both him and Ash's arm. Then, with a rather large yawn accompanying it, she fell asleep. "Gee, I don't know how you two can both be tired…" he laughed. "It's only mid-afternoon, but I suppose that the spring sun just does it to you… That and my lap's probably the most sunlit spot in the house," he glanced out the window that he was sitting by, where the sun was flooding through and covering most of him, as well as the floor by his feet.

Both the pokémon looked so peaceful… As did Togetic, though he looked comical as well, as he slept floating in mid air above the sofa he'd been earlier curled up on. Maybe it was how warm and peaceful it all was, or maybe it was the song on the radio that resembled a Jigglypuff's song… but it all made Ash tired too. Leaving Ash and the three local pokémon asleep…

And the perfect opportunity for a Delibird with a partially green head to wander in, chuckling to himself, and place one of his nice little Present attacks right between Ash's feet.

"Oh, he's gonna have a lot of fun when he wakes up…" he grinned to the best of his beaked ability, and wandered back out of the house unnoticed by anyone but the now half-awake Togetic. And Togetic wasn't gonna tell anyone… he thought his old friend playing a trick on his 'daddy' would be funny.

**********

"Wa! How'd that get there?!" a charred Ash whined. Togetic had been right… it was rather amusing. It would have been even more so if it hadn't been his 'mommy' who'd set it off, as she'd attempted to wake her boyfriend up to remind them of their dinner date.

"I think item of business one tonight will be asking about that Delibird…" Misty sighed, wiping soot off her face and heading upstairs for a shower. "There's gotta be some type of leash law on them around here…"

**********

"Aren't you two done cleaning yet?! They'll be here in just a couple of minutes!" Martha sighed, watching Brock and Tracey do the last of the cleaning.

"Hey, the only paint left is on the back of his head," Tracey explained. "I'm helping him clean up the messes he caused now. This soot is just not wanting to come off the counter now. And we would have it done by now, except he ran off to do something in the middle of the day…"

"Might that explain the explosion followed by Ash screaming earlier?" Martha complained. Brock attempted to whistle innocently.

Meanwhile, Celebi was sitting on the counter talking with Vixie as she got the chicken out of the oven. "Hey, you guys want any help?" it asked Brock and Tracey. "Allow me to demonstrate," it smiled and held up it's hand. A few sparks came out of the end and the whole kitchen was elfulged in a white light. Once the room was back to normal, it was truly… back to normal. Completely spotless.

"Thanks, Celebi, I owe you one!" Brock said enthusiastically, and started to take off his apron. "Ah, dang short arms, I can't reach…"

Tracey started laughing at him again as he watched Vixie set the dish of chicken on the table. "Hey, that a relative of yours, Brock?"

"Very funny now would someone like to help me here? Hello?" much to his dismay, the doorbell rang at exactly that moment.

"It'll have to wait until after dinner, unless Tracey wants to help. You two try to act normal, alright?" Vixie nearly snarled at them to emphasize her point.

"Bai-bai," Celebi added and teleported out of the room.

"Chika!!!" Chikorita ran through the door as Martha opened it, and her trainer and the others followed. She then halted, and looked around, sniffing the air, before running off up the stairs where Brock and Tracey had gone.

"Guess she didn't want to say hi…" Ash laughed. "So, how are all of you?"

"Good. I'm glad you could make it… I invited you over because one, we're neighbors temporarily obviously, and we'll be competing in the league, and also because it turned out Martha knew you both. Somehow I think I do too…"

"Well, our pokémon are obviously friends with yours," Misty pointed out as Pikachu and Togetic headed off in then same direction as Chikorita had.

"Well, should we eat?" Martha smiled and led them back to the kitchen. _What do those two think they're doing? If they're too buddy-buddy with Ash's pokémon, then he and Misty might get suspicious…_

**********

"What's up with the Delibird wearing the apron?" Ash mumbled, seeing the small bird and it's pink apparel peeking out from behind the counter.

"what?" Vixie looked around, from where she was washing the dishes. _If only Celebi had something it could do for dirty dishes like it did the room…_ she rolled her eyes. The quiet unrhythmical patter of the Delibird's waddling to her side alerted her, but not as much as the package that he was holding and the evil grin on his face did. "Put it away Brock!" she yelled without thinking.

"What was that? I'm sorry, I just thought you'd said a name that sounded familiar to me," Misty commented.

"Oh, I said 'put away that rock'. My Delibird likes being evil to people… I understand he might have pulled a few stunts on you," she glared at Brock and he simply gave her a snide look and waddled off, apron and all.

"That might be an understatement, but that's perfectly alright," Ash smiled.

"And I'm also sorry if my Smeargle has caused any problems," Martha chimed in.

"Oh, no, really, they haven't been any more of a bother than your cousin or our friend Brock used to be. The kind of things that annoy you but you get used to quickly, so the person or pokémon just sorta grows on you," Misty explained.

"Nope, no trouble at all," Ash added again.

"My cous…? Oh, you mean Tracey!" Martha laughed. "Yeah, he is like that. I'm sorry, I've just got so many cousins that I was a bit concerned for a moment that you might mean Marina or Duplica." _Thank goodness Tracey filled me in on his family members…_ she sighed.

**********

"Well, I guess we have to go now…" Chikorita said sadly. "But there's still one more day until the competition, so I can see you again tomorrow, ok Tracey?" she smiled and skipped down the steps.

Brock waddled up behind Tracey. "And what might that have been about?"

"Oh… um, hi, Brock. What? It's not what you think, really!"

**********

"You sure you're ready?"

"Of course. I've been waiting my whole life for this, Misty… And I know I'm ready for it."

"Alright, Ash, I just don't wanna see you get hurt…" she looked up and smiled. "Not like you would. Go out there and get 'em! You too, Pikachu!"

"Pika!"

"Yeah!" Ash grinned and kissed Misty deeply before running out through the gates.

"C'mon, Togetic. Let's go root daddy on…"

"Toge?"

"Yes, we could sit by him and coach him, but he wants to face the first battle alone. He said 'it'll feel more formal if I do it this way, even though I know that I find anything easier with you around.' It's so sweet…" she stared dreamily off at the ceiling.

"To totic?"

"Hmm? Sorry! I sorta spaced out. Let's go wait in the stands."

**********

*meanwhile, on the grass field*

"And the first match in this field today is between newcomer Martha Urima of the Orange Archipelago's Valencia Island and Gary Oak of Kanto's Pallet Town, who was in the top 30 two years ago! Let the battle commence!"

I realize that many of you may not have figured it out before now, but if that didn't give it away you must be *really* dense. No offense. Most my best friends are dense, save Emi-chan. But Review please! Ja ne to heiwa!! Ai Lyra-chan!  
Oh, and P.S.: this is a link to Eeveeluver's site (www.angelfire.com/de2/digimongurls), where I got the human-Chikorita-hitting-on-Ash picture that started it all. It's Oekaki 72 under the "My oekaki" fanart section. But just check her site anyway it's cute!


	5. Dream

Ok, near as I can tell, this series has almost died. -_-' … so… I'm going to attempt to revive it, ('Haruki': CPR! CRP! ^_^') by hurrying up the storyline a bit here. Thank you, Alex and CSM, for reading this faithfully still. The winner of my contest from the previous series shall be announced next chapter, provided the story survives that long. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go watch the meteor shower and listen to Primary Colors. =-=

__

I was so happy when my Mommy and Daddy finally decided they loved each other… they came back inside holding hands, and I was so happy I even evolved. But at that moment, I came to a sudden realization, as the shell melded into my body and the wings sprouted on my back.

They weren't my Mommy and Daddy. They were human, I wasn't.

****

Human? If Only…

5- Dream

Lyra of The Edge

__

But I still loved them, just the same. They were just like parents to me, so I could and can still consider them parents. But there was one thing that I didn't realize, in all those days that I sat hoping that soon Daddy would tell Mommy how he felt. I knew, all that time, deep inside, that they must love each other. They were my 'parents'. They had to. But what I didn't realize, is that after they got involved in Love, Mommy would have less time for me. It wasn't a thing like I thought it would be. I thought the only type of love was what I had for Mommy and Daddy. But there's something different between them… I guess that's just why I'm the child and not the parent. Uncle Pikachu said that I'll understand someday, even if it takes until I have human brothers and sisters. But I don't want to wait that long. I'm over three years old, after all, and that's not that young since I am a pokémon. I want to know, as soon as someone will tell me.

And I want my Mommy back.

I do love having a daddy, and I do love my Daddy too, but I want Mommy to pay more attention to me again. I don't know if it really is Daddy distracting her, or if it's just that I'm a 'big boy' now that I'm evolved, but… I just want things to be a little more like they used to be…

Togetic looked to the sky, and followed a sparkle that he understood to be a shooting star across the sky. "I wish that Mommy would pay attention to me again, and that I could find out what love is…" he chirped at the little star as it flew over head. Somehow, he just knew that it had heard me…

**********

"G'morning mommy…"

"Good grief, Ash… did the battles yesterday take _that_ much out of you? Your mom's still upstairs, and I came down to put some coffee on… you fell asleep on the couch last night, you do realize that?" Misty looked over at him and shook her head in her typical 'he's hopeless' manner, as he cocked his head to one side, clearly confused and drowsy.

"Ash…? I'm…" he muttered, his mouth tilting open sideways in a yawn.

"Just get up and drink some orange juice or something… maybe it'll wake you up," Misty sighed sarcastically, kissing him on the cheek and returning to the kitchen.

**********

::Meanwhile, on a bunkbed upstairs…::

Pikachu'd only been awake for a minute, and it already knew there was something fishy going on. It wasn't the distinct scent of ketchup in the room… that was from a bender he'd gone on the night before. Nor was it the absence of Ash… he figured his trainer was either downstairs already or in Misty's room. It wasn't even the sinking knowledge that their previous travelling companions were living next door in pokémon bodies, or the anchient song Hyaku GoJuu Ichi playing on the radio. It was the fact the Togetic was randomly mumbling his name, as well as Misty's, and random attacks in his sleep. Truly unlike Togetic. More like Ash.

"Togetic? Are you alright?"

"Huh? What?! I'm awake, I'm awake…" Togetic complained, rolling over. Pikachu raised one ear in alarm and lowered the other in confusion. He pushed the younger pokémon gently, hoping to wake him up, then finally gave up and pushed him over the side of the bunk. Not surprisingly, he stopped midway to the ground… what was surprising, on the other hand, was that suddenly he was awake and looking around frantically.

"Pikachu?!" he looked up at the little mouse pokémon frantically. "What the hell?!"

__

Ok… Pikachu stopped at the seemingly random language just used by what he thought was the three year old pokémon, _that is definitely not Togetic as I know him…_

**********

"Oh… I'm tired…" Celebi whined, it's antenna drooping like the rest of it as it landed, clearly exhausted, on the counter.

"Why? Whadja do?" Martha said curiously, setting the table for breakfast.

"Oh, I was up half the night trying to grant wishes. There were too many though… I had to give some to the Unowns…" Celebi yawned.

"Oh no, not again…" Brock mumbled. "I remember what happened *last* time you left some wishes to the Unowns… Ash and Misty _both_ almost died."

"They did, actually… I had to save them, remember?" Celebi corrected. "And besides, I gave them certain restrictions this time."

"You know… Maybe I should have wished to be the winner of the league…" Martha suddenly commented.

"Marril! I'm ashamed of you, that just wouldn't be proper," Vixie corrected her. "Besides, how would you feel when it was all over and you knew you'd only won because you wished for it to happen?"

"Well… I don't know… but I just wanted to have made it past the first round, but I lost to Gary right away…"

"It's ok…" Celebi smiled. "And I wouldn't have been able to grant that wish anyway… there are certain limits on my abilities, like I can't make people loose at battles and stuff…" it yawned again suddenly. "And I can't do too much for too long away from the forest… or I get tired…" it sort of curled into a ball on the counter, drifting off to sleep instantly. The other three returned to their work of preparing for the day…

"Hey, wait a second… have you guys seen Tracey around at all?" Brock asked, noting the absence of the bandana-d member of the group.

"Nope, I haven't seen him all morning…" Vixie shook her head.

"I'll bet I know where he is…" Martha giggled. "He's off somewhere with Chikorita again… those two are always together, they've been hanging around each other constantly since we got here."

"My… I'm beginning to think that Chikorita goes through guys nearly as quickly as Brock does girls," Vixie teased randomly.

"That's not true…" Brock mumbled.

"Oh, and what makes you say that?"

"She…" _Wait a sec I'm not supposed to tell them that…_ "She hasn't even gone through two guys yet," he corrected himself. It was, honestly, the truth… She'd only hit on and lost Ash so far…

*********

"For the love of Ho-oh… what on Earth happened here?" Ash demanded, hovering in midair in front of Pikachu. "Wait… if I'm in this body, then who's in mine?" he suddenly thought.

"I dunno, Pikapi… but it's probably Togetic," Pikachu suggested.

"Oh no… Pikachu, did Togetic make any wishes?"

"Nope, the only wishes I can think of that I know anyone made recently was Tracey's… but no others…"

"Tracey's?!" Ash demanded, as they wandered out of the room and down the stairs, seeing what was clearly a confused Togetic in Ash's body, glancing around nervously.

"Oops, I _really_ wasn't supposed to tell you that…" Pikachu winced. "But I guess as long as you're not human, and can't tell anyone, it won't matter, as long as Togetic doesn't do anything he shouldn't…"

"Oh Lugia… I officially pity Togetic…" Ash gulped.

"What?"

"I set up a practical joke for Misty… She'll get mad at him, since she'll think he's me, instead of the real me…" Suddenly a different thought struck him; "And we were supposed to go out tonight after the match and everything and Ho-oh this is just *not* good…" he shook his head slowly, his eyes growing wider with each realization that struck him. "Pikachu, I won't tell *anyone* about the wish thing, whatever the heck it was, just tell me if you know where Celebi is…"

"I know exactly where it is… Next door, with everybody else…" Pikachu sighed.

Ash's eyes narrowed at his pokémon… "'Everybody'? Who, exactly?"

"Um… Vulpix, Marril, Brock, Tracey… and I thought I saw Chikorita heading over there again…"

"Then how come I haven't seen any of them?"

"Oh, but you have…"

"They switched species, didn't they?" Pikachu nodded slowly in response. "Lugia… not good… Well, I say we wait for Misty to be out of ear shot and interrogate Togetic…" he shrugged. "It's not like there much else we can do… except… Oh no, Pikachu… I'm supposed to be in a match tonight!! Togetic's gonna be in there, not me…"

"Well, perhaps it's time Togetic was in a battle…"

Ash sighed, fluttering his wings softly and landing on a chair. "If his mommy will let him."

*grumble, grumble* I've only heard that song once, but no, I just *had* to read a fic based off it… oh, hey, done already? Please review… I'm wondering if the fic is even worth trying to save, or if I should just start back over on it…


	6. And that you can believe

Ok, so although the rest of my past readers appear to have thoroughly disappeared, Thank you, Alex Warlorn, for still reading and reviewing ^_^ If only more people were as inquisitive as you. And you know what? Although I'm not going to have it the exact way that you originally thought, I might just have to work that into the storyline… heh-heh… and it'll also mean I lied on something to you…

Ash fluttered in place over his own head… it was almost surreal, to see your own self below you, no matter whether you know who's in it at that moment or not. Pikachu had just ran out of the house after Chikorita had requested his help… he hadn't let Ash come with him, because they didn't need more people/pokémon than necessary knowing about the current situation. So Ash was left to determine, on his own, how to explain the situation to Togetic and, if necessary, Misty…

Human? If Only…

6 - And that you can believe

**********

Pikachu hurried along behind Chikorita. All she'd said to him, as they dashed away from the house, was that she hoped he could help her with something. What exactly that meant, Pikachu was clueless to. But he figured he was about to find out.

"Ok," she saiod, stopping by some bushes behind the condo the others were staying in. "Look… I knew, out of all the pokémon, you'd probably be the one most helpful in this situation. I… got into a little bit of trouble… And, well, I need someone to help me take care, of this…" she winced as she pulled back the branches of the bush with her vine whip, expecting Pikachu to be shocked and appaled at the concealed item. Instead he was just… rather stunned.

"But, 'Rita… who? How?"

**********

"Daddy!"

"Shhh…. Keep it down, Togetic. Follow me…" Ash sighed, leading the pokémon that was in his body up the stairs to his room. "What did you wish?"

"I… I'm not going to tell you!" Togetic said suddenly. "I'm old enough to be able to do things on my own, so I don't need your permission to wish!"

"I'm not trying to boss you around, Togetic… I'm just a bit concerned about you, that's all. There's a lot happening in my life right now, and I don't want you to get hurt by being thrown in in the middle of it!"

"You're just concerned about your status in the pokémon league, that's all. You're worried that if I take your place for a little while, then you'll loose, right?"

"That's only the smallest part of it! It's… Misty that I'm worried about…" Ash admitted.

"What about my Mommy? I can protect her, there's nothing that can happen to her…"

"That's not it…"

"What, then, Daddy? What could happen with Mommy that you'd be worried about?"

"Togetic… you know we're your… 'parents', right? And as your 'Daddy', I really love your 'Mom'… And it's not how you'd think of love though…"

"What is it, if not that?"

"I… can't explain it…. I'm not good at these things… It's just… different, alright?" Ash grimaced. He knew the differences, including several that, even if he knew how to explain them, weren't really good to tell to a three year old, even a pokémon one…

"I will tell you one thing. That's why I wanted to be human, so I could know what love was…"

"You're getting yourself into things you shouldn't, Togetic! It'll be one big mess…" Ash sighed, realizing the absence of his audience as Togetic left the room, harumphing as he ran down the stairs in a huff. "Oh no…"

**********

Pikachu leaned over and set his ear against the small pokémon egg. "It's already moving around… it's going to hatch within a week. You really *should* tell him, you know that, Chikorita…"

"I know, it's just… what will the others think? You know, and if it's a Chikorita too, then anyone could be it's father, for all they have to know…" Chikorita suggested, pacing around Pikachu and her egg nervously.

"But he'll know the truth, even if you don't tell him…"

"How will he know? I could have had other… boyfriends, for all he know…"

"The abilities, 'Rita, you know as well as I do that we all are born with some of our father's abilities… and it *will* be a Chikorita. It's always the mother's species, except with Dittos… You're just making up excuses, hoping that just once you'll say something I didn't know the answer to and cheat out of this. It's not going to happen though." He sighed and pressed his ear to the egg again, gently turning it as he did so. "How'd you and he get into this mess, anyway? And who is he, you wouldn't tell me…"

"It's a really, really long story… and I know that you'll go tell him if I tell you, so I'm not going to tell you… I didn't think anything like this would happen, though… we were just wandering through town night before last, arguing about things… He was determined to prove a few things, though, and had run out of other things to do… We both got bored, and, well…" she gulped, blushing and debating how much of the story to tell. "This morning… this happened…"

"That quickly?" Pikachu asked, eyes wide. "I'm really fairy surprised, actually… I though only Magikarp eggs birthed and hatched quickly… But that's beside the point.. I still can't believe this happened, but I figured it'd be you, if any, of the pokémon…"

"What's THAT supposed to mean?!" she growled, glaring at him and snatching a leaf from a nearby bush to vent her anger. She quickly calmed down and put the leaf over the egg, curling up beside it. Pikachu sweatdropped as he fully realized that the egg was nearly a third her size…

"Nothing, actually… Look, I won't tell anyone, and I'll help take care of it. For the baby's sake, not yours. I'm not going to help you, however, until you've told whoever the father is about it." Pikachu sighed, wandering away slowly. _And since I've got a good hunch, I'm gonna go ask right now…_he added silently.

"Alright. And Pikachu… thank you. You're right… I'll tell him, once it hatches…" she smiled.

"That's good…"

**********

"ASH KETCHUM! I'M QUITE POSSIBLY GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Togetic glanced around suddenly, only barely realizing that he was currently Ash to the rest of the world. Misty came in, her hair dripping purple, meriting a shocked stare from Togetic… she was dressed only in a blue towel, which was also being dyed purple by the water dripping from her hair which, despite it's altered color, framed her face quite nicely.

"Grape Kool-Aid in the shower nozzle. I bet you think I won't know it's you, if you give me that vacant stare long enough. Hello?! Ash? Ugh, You're not hearing a word I'm saying, are you? Geesh… you better hope this comes out, for your sake…" she stormed violently out of the room, leaving a slightly purple tinted puddle where she had been standing.

"What… was that…" Togetic asked himself, grabbing his head and shaking it. "That was… nothing I'd ever thought before… and about Mommy?" he asked himself. Things were about to get more complicated, because although Ash's mind and memory had left that body with Ash himself… the human hormones and instinct had not. Togetic shook his head again, and walked silently out of the room. He was in desperate need of a father-son talk.

**********

"ASH, ASH, PROBLEM!"

"Yeah, I know, Pikachu. Misty found the little surprise I left for her and blew up at Togetic…" Ash sighed, flopping backwards onto the bed and then rising into the air much to his dismay.

"That… wasn't the issue I was referring to. Chikorita is the issue I meant," Pikachu grimaced, realizing that their were about three crisises currently running course within the area of two condos and the surrounding yard.

"What now…" Ash groaned, trying to force himself back down to the bed with little success.

"How do I put this…?"

"Simply would be nice…"

"Alright, fine then. Chikorita's going to be a mother," Pikachu said, pulling his ears over the sides of his head hoping to lessen the blow of the yell he was convinced he was about to hear. Instead, there was only a soft, sudden plop as Ash finally landed on the bed.

"Alright, who did she…"

"Wouldn't tell me. Says she'll tell me once it hatches. I'm thinking Tracey… they're always running around together…"

Ash rose back off the bed again suddenly. "Tracey? But he…. I just don't think so, though we shouldn't rule it out. And-" he was cut off as the door swung open suddenly, and none other than Togetic stormed in.

"Daddy! You did that just so mommy would get mad at me!"

"No." Ash said sincxerly. _I did that so she'd walk into the room wet and only wearing a towel, hoping I could talk her out of being mad at me…_ he corrected within his own mind. "I set that up last night, long before this whole mess happened."

"Oh… well, maybe. But daddy…?" Togetic said slowly.

"Yeah?"

"What was it… that I was thinking, when mommy came in to yell at me? When I saw her… I don't know, my mind just locked up and went all weird…"

Ash glanced down at Pikachu and gave him the 'oh-no' look. _Make that crisis total… four…_

**********

"Hey, what's Chikorita doing out there?" Vixie asked, shielding her eyes from the sun as she looked out the window. Chikorita was scampering across the yard, glancing around nervously as she carried a small towel into some bushes. She emerged again moments later and picked up a stick, taking it back in with her.

"I don't know…" Martha said, looking out with her. Brock, Celebi, and Tracey quickly joined them, all three the boys being slightly curious as to what the other pokémon was doing, and each tempted to accuse another or themselves of what she might be doing.

"I'll bet I know," Tracey grinned sheepishly, and ran to the door. "I'll go ask, and be back in a minute or two!"

Ooo I bet you all think you have it figured out, don't you? Alex, tell them and die. And PLEASE review! I'm having serious second thoughts about this nearly R-rated storyline here, so tell me if it's a bad idea! Thank you all!!


	7. Issues abound

… Oh, by the way, I'd disappeared to the Digimon section to write Jenki's, if any of you wondered where I went for a month. Anyway, ahem, I am *not* going to write a side story… I'm only 14, for Lugia's sake, and I'm not going to write anything like that! Thanks to everyone for reviewing!  
I write the name of Togetic or Ash based on whoever they appear to be at that moment… who the person or people doing the talking perceives them. For instance, when Togetic is thinking in the first paragraph, he knows he isn't Ash and is just in his body so I call him Togetic then. When it's the public around him, however, they all think he's Ash so that's what he's called (even when it's Pikachu talking to him… there are others around!)   
Oh, and the next chapter of Ocean of Tears should be up today. That's what else I disappeared to, tyvm.

Togetic tossed a pokéball into the air over and over, catching it calmly in his best attempt to act like his 'daddy'. _I can do this,_ he thought, taking a deep breath and pulling the hat over his face. _Pikachu will help me, and no one will even guess that it's me, not Daddy…_

Except, maybe, for Misty. She sat there, eyeing what appeared to be Ash suspiciously. There was only the smallest amount of doubt in her mind that it really was him, but with everything that had happened in recent months there was really no telling.

"I choose you! Bulbasaur!"

"Saur!"

"Butterfree, go!"

And with that, the battle had started. There was no more time to ponder Ash's recent behavior as the battle went underway. Ash had an advantage out here, with two grass types, and Quilava and Pikachu for back up, he was sure to win against the opponent, who was a first-timer in the league. Almost too easy.

****

Human? If Only…

7-Issues abound

[No, not a song quote. Reviews and a shout out to anyone who can give me a song quote for this chapter. I'm stuck for one.]

****

"Pi… pika Pipipi pichu pika…" Pikachu said, motioning a bit extravagantly, and Ash nodded in response.

"Leech seed!"

"Stun spore!"

********** [Dah, I can't write battles -_- so I'll just sorta do my standard thing]

"Chikorita, use your Razor leaf!!"

"Chika!"

"And the green trainer's last pokémon is knocked out!! The red trainer Ash Ketchum wins!!!"

"Pipipi!!" Pikachu squealed happily, jumping into Ash's arms as he called Chikorita back (but not into her pokéball.) Misty smiled and ran up to join them, hugging and kissing Ash as they both rejoiced in his victory. Togetic, however, hovered back behind the group, letting the reality of the moment set in on him.

__

Togetic is doing extremely well in my place, the real Ash thought, contemplating the moment. _I wasn't sure how he would handle battles, but he won. Maybe it's not me in the battles, and it doesn't matter who their trainer is, it's only the pokémon I have that count. I make no difference effecting the outcome of the match. And Misty, she's convinced that what she called her baby for the last four years is me!! It's not me, my personality, anything except me physically that matters, is it?_ he quietly floated there, a tear forming in his eye. _Pikachu even acted just like it was me out there, even though he knew and even said that it was Togetic. I'm not really needed, none of them love a fake me any less than the real me._ In Ash's mind, things weren't going that well.

"Ash, I need to talk to you when we get back. _Alone_," Misty smiled, looking into Ash's eyes as seductively as possible and kissing him again.

Which meant that while things *were* going well, Togetic's mind wasn't working that well. _Uh-oh… does she know I'm not really Ash? No, if she did, why would she still be kissing me like she always does Daddy? Or does she like me better now? Or… Love me?_

All in all, it was so far and was destined to be, a very strange day.

*Meanwhile*

"I'm serious, guys! I have NO idea where the egg came from!!"

"Leave him alone, Brock. He might be telling the truth," Vixie sighed, glancing between the two small pokémon and the green printed egg behind them.

"I don't even know what's going on…" Martha added, plopping down on the ground and staring at the clouds in hope of figuring out what was happening.

"You'll understand when you're older…"

"A likely story! I know very well how often you are hanging out with Chikorita. 'Training' my feathery butt. You two have been to home plate and back it would seem," Brock countered, not listening to the reasoning of his pokémon.

Tracey looked around dumbfounded and tried his best to defend himself. "Look, I'll ask Rita-"

"Pet name, even!"

"-when she gets back if it's hers. It might be a wild pokémon egg, for all we know. But no matter what, I know for sure that I am not the father!!!"

"Got proof?"

"She'll tell you!"

"Cover up for you, you mean."

"Guys, guys, HOLD IT!! If you two can just remain calm for a moment and let the competitive testosterone levels die down then maybe we can get somewhere!!" Vixie shouted, standing up to her full 6 feet of height and glaring down on the two reverse-gijinkas. Martha also looked quite startled at her friend's sudden outburst. In fact, only one member of the little group was not staring at her in awe at the moment.

And that one had been laying inside, asleep, minding his own business for the last 20 minutes until Vixie's yelling had woken him. Celebi yawned and peeked out the window, his eyes widening as he saw what the rather noisy argument was over. "Uh-oh…"

**********

"Ash? You're awfully quiet…" Misty frowned, leaning her head onto his shoulder. Their date had turned into pizza and a movie, and frankly, she was bored. It took the weight of her head to make Togetic realize she meant him by 'Ash', and that he still was, apparently, him. He looked at her for a brief moment, looking sadly up at him, wearing a set of sea blue pajamas with little Lapras and Staryus printed all over them.

"Yeah I'm just thinking," Ash responded, truthfully sounding lost in thought.

"About what?"

"You," he admitted. In his mind, where he was Togetic still, he was wondering what he actually was thinking. He'd discovered quite quickly that humans and pokémon did *not* think the same way, at least in comparison to the last fragments of Ash's mind and his own. But he truthfully was thinking about Misty… about how he'd always called her Mommy and said he loved her… but now that new ideas were being placed into his young mind… Logically speaking, Togetic was a teenager. The baby form he'd been in had only just disappeared, and his recent evolution into the adult form of his species had left him a little confused anyway. But the last 48 hours had been more than he could ever bargain for.

"Oh, really?" she smirked, fiddling with the top button on her PJs. "Like what? Just me? Or us? Or," she smirked a bit more and blushed lightly, unfastening the button she'd had in her hand, "What we could be doing right now?"

Ash continued to stare into midair in front of him, not noticing Misty's actions, tone of voice, or even what she'd actually said. "Yeah something like that…" Misty grinned playfully at him, then kissed his neck gently, before kneeling on the sofa and looking at him with puppy eyes. Ash's eyes grew wide at the touch of her lips, and he turned towards her struggling to think of what the true Ash would say.

"Ah, c'mon… I'm bored…" Misty whined, the now enlarged neck of her PJs slipping over one of her shoulders. "It's not like we're anywhere near innocent anyway…"

"I…" Ash was cut off when Misty lowered her face back towards his, her tongue roaming his mouth freely. He tried to stifle a gag reflex and pushed her away for a moment.

"Ash?"

"I'll be right back, ok?" he stuttered, walking at a rather fast speed out of the room and into his, opening and then closing both doors.

"Oh, I get it!" Misty called after him. "I'll be waiting in here, then!"

"Ash, Pikachu, what's going on?!" he demanded, looking between what used to be him and the small yellow mouse in the room.

"Hmm?" the true owner of his body looked up at him, munching on a piece of a sandwich while reading an issue of some trainers magazine.

"She was like… kissing me, and her mouth… and her shirt was partially undone and… my mind was running at a like, million miles an hour and, and…" Togetic stopped for a moment, trying to regain calm. "What exactly does she mean by innocent?" both the other members' of the room's eyes became huge at the comment.

"Ash, is there something you'd like to tell me?" Pikachu asked his master.

"No, not at all," Ash sweatdropped, resisting the temptation to split the remaining sandwich in two and chuck one piece at each of the two others. "Togetic, the way I see it, you have three choices. One, tell her the truth. Two, run for your life because if you're not back in 5 minutes she'll be pissed and crying and I'll be very upset because it's your fault Misty's upset. Or three, the option that we'd really rather you not take, go through with it."

"With what?"

"See, it kinda helps if you know what, so that options almost a nil anyway. And it's also the most likely to get you grounded should she ever find out."

"Not too mention that'd just be gross," Pikachu added.

"Shut up!" Ash stopped resisting the sandwich-chucking temptation.

"Not if it were you! Only if it's him, not that it wouldn't be… odd, at least, if it were the real you," Pikachu corrected himself.

"Which option would get me in the least trouble?" Togetic asked shyly, trying to avoid getting involved in the brewing argument.

"Tell her," the others said in unison. Togetic stood there, looking helplessly at his 'daddy' and best friend/'uncle'.

**********

Chikorita sighed and smiled, curling up silently next to her egg. Less than a week and it'd be hatched… She knew quite well who the father was, but she wasn't about to tell anyone voluntarily for fear of ruining his reputation.

"Hey, 'Rita…" came a familiar voice from above her.

"Hmm? Oh, Vulpix! Hi!" Chikorita grinned, hoping the egg was hidden enough to keep her from seeing it.

"So… who's the dad?"

Heh-heh… looks like it mostly boils down next chapter, not that there isn't more to come! And this time, I'm NOT gonna just sorta skip over the important explaining part and make it all flashbacks. Nope, this time the problems get solved formally!!! Review Please! Oh, and the winner of the contest for the original series is posted on my profile! ^^ be back soon, until the I'm gonna plug 'Ocean of Tears'!

Please, if ANYONE knows Alan Wang in Washington D.C., tell him that Katie is looking for him, and e-mail me his E-mail address… I have ways of knowing it's him, so any link to him is greatly appreciated and will merit the giver a piece of signed art from me ^_^ thankies!!!


	8. All the Revelations

People whined quite quickly about the length of time between chapters. It's because I had writers block to the worst degree, but only for this fic. 4 others, on the other hand, got anywhere from their entirety to their first couple of chapters got themselves written and posted in the meantime. I'm still kinda stuck on this fic, but I put together some stuff from my hijacked brain (every anime girl in existence rules her own section) and a few suggestions in reviews, and thus have gotten this. 

"I'm sorry, Vulpix, I can't tell you that."

"Because he told you not to, right? Tracey would be embarrassed if we knew he had a relationship with a pokémon, even though that was the point of his stupid wish in the first place," Vixie sighed, acting extremely stuck up at the moment.

"No, not that at all. Tracey isn't even the father, Vulpix! I'm only going to tell you who it is if you guess, and that's from my own choice. I don't want to ruin his reputation!"

"Reputation? The boy doesn't _have_ a reputation!!"

"I told you, it's NOT Tracey. And what's gotten into you? You used to be the sweetest pokémon I knew? Now you… to be honest, you're a bitch, Vulpix," Chikorita said harshly, glaring at her friend.

****

Human? If Only…

8: All the revelations

(Or, "I would cry you an ocean")

"What happened to me? That idiot boyfriend of yours, that's what. I sort of wanted to be human, just for a day or two, just to see what it was like. And you know what? I hate it. there is nothing even remotely pleasant about being a member of this species. I don't know how you put up with it for two whole weeks… It hasn't been quite that for me and I've already gotten more than sick of it. Marril, oh, she's doing fine. She's recovered quite well from loosing her first battle, and has since turned into the spitting image of the average human girl. She actually wanted this, but she even said that she's getting tired of this by now. I never asked to be thrown into this mess, but no, Tracey and Brock wanted trainers. Your boyfriend and his stupid wish…" Vixie snarled, pacing around the smaller pokémon.

"I told you, I have nothing with Tracey! All I've been doing with him is teaching him how to use attacks!" Chikorita responded, tears welling in her eyes. She couldn't believe this… Vulpix, tormenting her like this… And acting like it was her fault that she was trapped in a human form. "I don't understand… what's happened to you?" she whispered, the tears now streaming down her cheeks. "I'll tell you, who… but you can't tell the others, alright? It was Celebi…"

Vixie stopped her circling and stared long and hard at her little friend and at the honesty and shame in her eyes. "You didn't honestly plan any of this, did you?" she suddenly realized, dropping to her knees beside Chikorita.

"No… I'm so confused now," she sobbed back. "I'm too young for this, I'm only a basic level… I, I didn't want any of this. I…"

"Should have thought of that before it all started. Look, I'm sorry for how I was acting… I didn't realize…" Vixie said softly, picking Chikorita up and hugging her gently. "The moment I'm out of the league, I'm wishing this whole mess never happened…"

"Watch what you say, though… most anything could happen if you don't say the wish right…"

"I'll think of something… Now, let's get you and the egg inside to some place warmer, huh? It's not that cold out here, but it could chill further overnight."

**********

"Oh, Ash you big party pooper!" Misty teased, wandering into Ash's room and seeing the boy, and the pokémon, all asleep on their respective bunks. Unbeknownst to her, Togetic had panicked at the last second and decided to simply pretend he was too tired to do… whatever, tonight. Misty sat down quietly on the chair by the door, flipping off the light. She stared gently off into the air, closing her eyes and rocking back and forth where she was sitting. "He wanders off, he's just lost without me… doesn't here a word I say…" she sang quietly. The familiar tune made the real Ash perk up slightly, and scooted closer to the edge of the top bunk to listen.

__

So that was the song… all along it was for me… he thought sadly, his vision blurring from the tears that were building up in his eyes. It seemed so… ironic, that although it had been over five months they'd been dating, he still hadn't heard the song that practically had brought them together in the first place. Yet now he was hearing it… and he wasn't even really him now. The song was soothing to him, after all the stress he'd been in the last day or two. He floated quietly over Misty, smiling at the love of his life… he felt so awkward, trapped in the body of a pokémon. He knew Misty would probably be at least a bit irritated at "his" lack of enthusiasm for her idea that night. He wondered if she'd also noticed the other minor changes in his actions the last day or so… Togetic, as him, had hardly even kissed her the whole day… maybe half a day, Misty wouldn't notice, but after a while it had to have gotten obvious that something was up. She had to have at least thought he was under a lot of stress…

He looked at her, staring at her face that he'd become so familiar with. It looked a bit strained, like she was trying to hold something back… There was a distinct sadness in her voice, in what should have been a relatively happy song.

"Just go off in your own direction, and see if anybody cares…" came the lyrics of the song. Ash froze as he heard the phrase… but only because of Misty's reaction to it, as she whispered the next line, or more accurately about half of it before she stared crying and ran from the room. Togetic had ignored her fully that day. No, not Togetic… Ash, as far as she knew. The boy who supposedly loved her more than anything, even his dream of being a pokémon master.

There had to be something he could do…

**********

"So no hard feelings Rita?" Vixie laughed, smiling as the little pokémon finished wrapping her egg in a blanket, in a small box on the counter.

"No, of course not," Chikorita responded, sitting calmly across from her now-human friends. "I know you were just stressed." Martha cocked her head to one side and set it on her hands.

"I'm still a bit confused," she admitted, curling a loose lock of hair around her finger. She blew a bubble and sent it flying into the air… just like ChikoRita had, she and Vixie had both retained some of their pokémon skills. "But I'm guessing I'll just have to stay that way. I don't need my head hurting for nothing again." A soft tap on the back door turned all their attention away from each other. Vixie shrugged, standing up and wandering over to the door to open it.

"Togetic?! What are you doing here… Misty'll be worried sick!"

"Cool it, Vulpix. I'm not Togetic. Ok, so I'm in his body, but I've been here for over 36 hours now," Ash whined, flying into the kitchen and plopping down exhaustedly on the table beside Chikorita. She in turn nervously backed up and made an effort for the egg to appear to be a pile of blankets.

"BACK UP!!!" Vixie scolded, storming back over to the table and dramatically swinging out her chair before sitting in it. "Who are you then?"

"I… am wondering what my Chikorita is doing here, and WHY she has an egg."

"_Your_ Chikorita?!"

"Ash?! Ashy, is that you?!" Chikorita said in panic, taking an extra moment to realize what he'd commented on. "Oh, it's a very long story, please don't make me explain because I really don't want anyone to know any more than they do already."

"Alright, fine, I won't. I'm too tired and frustrated to care anyway, so long as you please tell me it was not either of the guys who should be humans."

She nearly face faulted. "You know about them?"

"Yes, now don't change the subject!!!"

"Don't worry, it's not!!" Chikorita smiled, relieved at her trainers confidence in her in comparison to her other friends.

"Well, you three chit-chat. I've had quite a long day, and am by now thouroughly confused. You two find out why Ash is in Togetic's body, and fill me in tomorrow either before or after the match," Vixie sighed, unconsciously sashaying as she wandered out of the room.

"Match?"

"I'm up against Gary, tomorrow. Wish me luck!"

oh man I'm baaaaaad. I was tempted to have Ash have a nosebleed while watching Misty sing… but I don't need this story going further odd than it is already. Review, please! Ja ne to heiwa, ai Lyra-chan!


	9. 9 -- All I Hear

Alex Warlorn, for the last time, DON'T WORRY I write better if I get breaks in between by reading other stories. Like yours. I want to plug his fics right now, and my own Jenki fics because I want someone to read them ^^ they're just as good, better in my opinion, as this fic. Oh, and Alex, it wasn't that he wouldn't *ahem* it was that he'd been ignoring her the past day or two. We girls go in to depression spells over things like that.  
Also, shout out to Rika!!! Thank you again so much, girl, for helping me look for him, and just for being one of my best friends. Even if it does mean frying our phone bills.

****

**Human? If Only…**

**9 - All I Hear**

**_Lyra Kamiya_**

"Ok, so here's the deal. It'll be easier for me to get into the stadium as a human, so I'll stay this way until after Vulpix's match with Gary. Afterwards, I'll wish for everyone to go back to normal… everyone but Vulpix if she wins, everyone period if she looses."

"What do you mean _if_ I win?!" Vixie demanded, glaring at the younger blue haired girl.

"And normal isn't a good word. There is no such thing as normal, I've seen it," Chikorita added, nuzzling her egg again. She was enjoying herself at the moment because Ash had been too tired to question her and it's existence further when she'd asked him not to. "If you say it wrong also, everyone might de-evolve back to their youngest stage…"

"Well then, what am I supposed to say?"

"Wait a second, what about Brock and Tracey?" Ash yawned.

"What do you mean, what about us?! I don't know about bandana boy, but I'd rather get out of this feathery get up," Brock whined, waddling into the room and startling the heck out of those already present.

"I, actually… would like to stay like this a bit longer, at least. I want to help Vixie win, now that I'm finally good at being a pokémon. And also, I'm still waiting for my wish to work correctly," he laughed lightly.

"So if Vixie stays human, you stay pokémon," Martha nodded. "You are still fine with remaining human longer if you win?"

"Eh, I might learn to enjoy this life if it's one of luxury…" Vixie giggled lightly, leaning her chair back against the counter. "If I win the games, I might stay like this forever. Loose, I'll go ahead and wish the other two of us back. If I feel like it," she smirked. "It's his choice what form he stays in. That's why we're waiting until after the match."

"Ash?! Ash, have you seen Togetic?!" came a yell suddenly from the house next door.

"uh-oh…" Ash gulped, sighing and floating to the back door.

"You haven't TOLD HER?!" the others demanded, glaring at and proceeding to snub the boy for a moment.

"Hey, does it look like I can in this body? You people er, whatevers can only understand me because you were once a pokémon."

"Don't remind me!!" Martha whined, flopping back down on the table. She, like all of them except Vixie, had not slept the night before, though she was in a tired and upset mood anyway. "Wait, wait, I know!" she hollered as Ash flew out the back door. "I'll wish everyone back into which ever they were born as!"

"Works…" Brock shrugged.

"I hope," Vixie added, gazing over at Celebi who was sleeping silently on the counter. With everything he'd been through in the past few weeks, would he be able to handle a wish that big? Without the possibly chaotic help of the Unown?

**********

The moment he re-entered the house, the real Ash made it his best effort to look asleep on a pillow in midair. He wasn't sure how Togetic-like it looked, but it certainly seemed convincing to Pikachu, though he later spent a good amount of time laughing about the situation. The moment Misty was back out of the room, Togetic looked up at Ash… "The others going to help us at any time soon?"

"They were all going to change back, etc., anyway as soon as they can."

"Thank goodness… Daddy, I was getting scared," Togetic said softly, starting to cry. Ash mumbled sympathetically, mumbling only out of a lack of ideas of what to saw, and flew down to sit beside Togetic. "I… all I really wanted, was to know what love was… what was so fantastic that now Mommy cared more about you than me, but, it all backfired. I… I don't know what's going on at all…"

"Neither did I until a month or so back… It's perfectly fine that you're confused, and that you wanted to sort it all out. Just do me one favor…"

"Yeah?"

"Next time, talk to Pikachu or something instead of making some huge wish."

Togetic laughed softly in response, glancing up and reading the numbers on the clock. Vixie's match was scheduled to begin in half an hour… they'd told Misty that is was the next day, so that she wouldn't be there to interfere with their plan. "Misty… I'm going for a walk! I'll be back soon…" he called, hearing nothing but the water running in the shower. He sighed and wrote a note stating the same, and that Pikachu and "Togetic" had chosen to go with him. The real Ash knew she needed some time to herself anyway… The three slowly headed out the front door, joining up with Martha's group, Vixie having already well more than arrived at the stadium, and headed off to the match.

**********

The announcer's voice blared over the intercom The match was dwindling down to it's last moments… Gary had but his Umbreon left… Vixie was having Tracey battle, with one more pokémon remaining. Since the two were matched on speed, it was quite obvious who the victor was going to be here. But Gary wasn't giving up without a fight.

"Shady! Use your Shadow Ball!"

"Um-_bre!_" the wounded dark type agreed, closing its eyes and focusing a ball of deep purple energy. Tracey's eyes grew wide and he glanced back to Vixie for help.

"Go for it," Vixie mouthed, watching the Umbreon continue to power up. Suddenly the energy was shooting across the field. "Tracer!" she yelled, as he was called to keep suspision down, "Use Sketch!"

The attack hit him hard, but the next moment, Tracey was still standing with an uncharacteristic, to both him and the pokémon he now was, smirk on his face. He bowed his head then glanced back at Vixie for what would be the final command.

"Do it. SHADOW BALL!" she yelled more dramatically then necessary, and Tracey shot the attack back at the original user, a grin forming on his face as he landed once more.

"Um… eon…"

"Shady, NO!!"

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE HAVE A WINNER!" the announcer roared above the crowd. Martha came running out onto the field and started hugging Vixie and Tracey randomly, as Gary sulked off the field on the opposite side. It had been quite a match, that much could be said. Now that the rules had been expanded to using 6 pokémon on all matches, except for the final round one on one, matches were becoming more challenging.

But it wasn't enough for Gary. With a small harrumphed, he picked up his Umbreon and carried the fainted pokémon off the field. She tried to whimper an apology to her Trainer, but he shushed her immediately. "You did your best, Shady. We'll do better next year, you'll see.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the field, Martha was running over the plan repeatedly. She sighed and leaned against the wall of the tunnel they were standing in. "So, this is it? This is when the rest of us go back?"

"I guess so," Togetic shrugged, glancing around. Celebi floated in midair between them, invisible to all but that small group which he wanted to be aware of him.

"But… I don't want to go back…" Martha said plainly, as if it were common knowledge. Everyone looked back over in sudden shock. "Vixie, I can't just desert you and leave you human, fighting by yourself. Even if I become your pokémon. Besides, I'm starting to like this more than being a Marril… I'm not quite as fast of a swimmer as I used to be, but I can learn to live with it. And I think that I'd like to become an actual pokémon trainer…"

Everyone nodded back at her. "Eh, we'll be fine if you don't switch us back," Ash laughed. "We'll explain it to Misty…"

Pikachu glanced up at his Trainer. "I'll make the wish if you want!"

"No, that's ok. I can't ask you to do that."

"Ash? I still want to make the wish for you and Togetic. And for Brock, too…" Martha laughed. Ash sort of stared, confused for a moment, at the Gijinka, then shook his head suddenly.

"I can't ask you to do that."

"I want to, though. I'm going to wish both all of you, all back to where you belong. Celebi?" the little fairy nodded at her. "I wish that everyone, except Vixie, Tracey, and myself, would go back to being pokémon or human, whichever they were born as!"

"Nice, that one would be hard for even the Unown to mess up. Let it be done!" he grinned, disappearing. Ash and Togetic glanced nervously at each other, then both collapsed.

Moments later Ash shook his head, holding it with one hand. "Lugia that was one hell of a fa-" he stopped as he realized he was actually able to reach his head with his hand, and that he was talking… in his voice, again!

"Ash?" Vixie asked, leaning down over him and offering him a hand.

"Yes, it is me. Finally!"

**********

Elsewhere outside the stadium, was an extremely lost feeling, confused Pikachu. He remembered seeing something sparkle in the sky and then… then he was there, buried under a pile of cloths and about to be squished by a backpack that he somehow remembered being a lot smaller. A black nose poked at him, and he snarled, pushing away the pack and looking around demandingly. "W-Wait," he stuttered, staring at the owner of the black nose that had been prodding him. Pure black, with gold rings, she stood to be almost a foot taller than him. "Shady?! Is that you, girl?"

Lee-chan… I'm not officially including your prize in the story, just a slight variation of my original idea. I'll be posting your prize ASAP. Everyone else… I'm sorta internet-challenged until my next report card (DO your homework!), so posts will be very uncommon. Non-existent if this doesn't start to live up to it's predecessor in the reviews.  
And is it just me, or did my cliffhanger manage to be REALLY obvious this time?


	10. Everything Changes

Okay, so now there's HOW MANY of us going to Japan?! *confronts Adrie, who starts counting on her fingers. Sighs as Adrie takes off shoes* it's 14, maybe 15… from the original 3…I don't really mind, all I'm saying is that by now we're going to need a "girls'", a "boys'", and a "married/engaged" condo…  
Where is my life going? Somewhere good, I hope now… Rika's help searching finally paid off, so I'm now dedicating this fic to her and Alan. Because she was so persistent, and because, finally, he can know that it's for him…

A happy little reunited group was laying across the sofa in the Ketchum's rented condo. Togetic was quite content by now to lay asleep, curled up on his "mommy's" stomach, and Misty in turn had her head on Ash's lap, and her feet up on the arm of the sofa as they watched a match on TV. Ash subconsciously ran his fingers through Misty's hair repeatedly, rather pleased with how peaceful things had become since his return to normal. He smiled as Misty looked up at him and set her hand on top his own.

"I'm glad you're back Ash…" she whispered sweetly. Ash had finally told her what had been going on after she'd determined that he'd made her miss Vixie's match.

"Not nearly as much as I am, I'm sure…" he agreed quietly, brushing his thumb across her cheek and flipping the TV off. Misty sat up, setting Togetic quietly on the back of the couch and leaned against Ash's shoulder. "Kinda random… but, you seen Pikachu lately Misty?"

"No… why?"

"I'm just worried about him… I haven't seen him since we all switched back…"

"I bet Brock's still mad that we left him in the pokéball overnight," Musty laughed slightly, then looked back up at Ash with a more serious expression. "But I bet Pikachu's just fine, maybe he thought we just needed some time alone for a while. It's only been since yesterday morning… and you have a match tomorrow, I'm sure he'll be back on time."

"I hope so, but I'm still worried…"

Misty sighed sharply in response. "Paranoid…"

"With right! I know very well that at least and you have a match tomorrow, I'm sure he'll be back on time."

"You say that like it's a bad thing…" Misty smiled back at him, kissing him gently to prove his point.

****

Human? If Only…

10-Everything Changes

__

Lyra Kamiya

Pikachu was feeling very confused. He knew that he'd been like he was right now before, but that still didn't explain how he got back like this. Not that he really minded -- yet… It'd been almost… what, 10 years since he'd been in this body, and he'd been barely even six then. He hadn't been to happy with how he'd been for those years for most that time… so unhappy, in fact, that he'd tried on several occasions to electrocute Ash, or whoever else was around at that time, even… his own grandfather.

Only three people, one of them a pokémon, knew of that terrible predicament, the regrettably successful experiment Professor Oak had done 10 years earlier. No one had expected it would actually work… After all, Pokémon and humans were similar in complexity, but not similar enough for one to act as the other, even if there were a way to test that theory.

Pikachu, as he'd been called for the past decade, was one of the two victims of that experiment. The one that Prof. Oak was almost thrown out of practice for, and the reason he'd lost the majority of his respect amongst those who knew of it. Those who's respect he still had, didn't know he'd gone through with the experiment, or else, didn't know it was successful.

Pikachu had been, for the first 6 years of his life, and was again now, a boy called Gary Oak.

Which only left him to wonder where the pokémon that'd played that part for a decade was right then, and how they'd both gotten back into the bodies they'd been born in.

**********

Ash woke up groggily, glaring at the phone on the coffee table. "Ringing… 7 AM… who do they think…" he grumbled, glancing between it and Misty, who was laying on top of him where they'd fallen asleep on the sofa the night before. He reached for the phone best he could, without disturbing the sleeping red-head, and finally managed to snag the phone and flip it on, having to quickly switch hands as he attempted to push himself back onto the couch.

"Hello? This better be good! Oh… hi, Professor… no, I haven't seen Gary around… never came back? Why didn't you ask sooner! Well, yes, he would want 'cheering up', but… No, no, I'll help look. Maybe he'll come to my match today. And Professor, have you seen Pikachu? Well, I… nevermind, I hadn't seen him since that match either, but he's scratching at the glass door now. I'm sure Gary will turn up, just as easily as Pikachu just did… alright…"

Ash sighed and clicked the phone shut, staring nervously down his chest at Misty, who had yet to awaken. "I guess all those years around my snoring must have paid off… Togetic, think you can open the door?" Ash pleaded, finally being able to pull himself back onto the couch completely. He watched as Togetic flew over to the door, then felt Misty shift on him, one of her arms sliding up to next to his head. He sighed and ran his fingers through her hair lightly, "That's my angel…" he smiled and looked back over at the door, where Togetic had almost gotten the door open. _I'll owe him breakfast for a week after this one, with all the locks on that door…_ there was a click as the door slid open, and Ash sighed again, looking back in the direction of the ceiling. His view, however, was blocked off by the smiling face of a redhead.

"G'morning," she grinned, kissing him rather enthusiastically, then sat up and slid onto the edge of the sofa.

"A good morning it is," he chuckled, sitting up beside her.

"So what's this about Gary going missing?" Misty smiled, nodding towards the phone.

"Eavesdropping, when I thought you were asleep? I shouldn't tell you, just for that young lady!"

"I'm older than you," she smirked in response.

"Eh, details, details. But anyway, evidently at about the same time that Togetic and I got switched back, etc., Gary went miss-" Ash paused as he realized Pikachu still hadn't come near him, and that his ears had perked up upon mention of Gary's name. "Hey, whatcha doing over there Pikachu? C'mon, I haven't seen you in two days, 'least give me a hug…" Pikachu looked at him out of the corner of his eye, shrugged, and walked over towards Ash. "Much better-" Ash stopped as Pikachu put out one of his hands and motioned for Ash to shake it. A bit stunned, Ash did as he was directed, and sweatdropped as Pikachu then marched off to the kitchen.

"Sometimes… it's hard to tell who's the trainer, and who's the pokémon with you two…"

"Yeah, well, I'll talk to him. I wonder what's up… but you don't have to be so bugging about it, Misty…"

"Um, Ash, that wasn't me. We have company, so I'm gonna go change clothes…" Misty grinned, pointing at Vixie who was leaning against the back of the sofa. Ash slowly sweatdropped, rubbing the back of his neck apologetically as he realized he was shirtless, and promptly pulled his T-shirt back over his head. "How long you been there? And where are the others?"

"Eh, the happy couple are out in the backyard turning the egg over, be in in a second. Tracey's sleeping, Brock's cooking breakfast, and Martha was playing tag with her bubbles last time I checked. HEY, lil miss bubbly! Whatcha up to?!" she called, staring in the direction of the door.

"I found a stray Umbreon, I think… she's so pretty! I'm trying to get her to come out… Come see!"

"Umbreon?" Misty inquired, wandering into the room in a tank top and skirt, versus the old T-shirt of Ash's she'd been wearing before. She and the other two walked slowly over to the door, arriving to see Martha crouched on the ground, talking in her true language to the little black pokémon. She peeked her head out from the bushes who's shadow she was hiding in.

"She's looking for her trainer, says she saw him run past here… So she's not a stray…" Martha said slowly, looking up at the others.

"Guys, maybe we shouldn't try to get her to come out until the sun's at a different angle. You know Umbreons prefer to stay in places where it's shady," Misty suggested. The Umbreon turned her head suddenly in her direction.

"That definitely got a reaction… wonder what you said…" Ash complained. In the background, smoke billowed out the kitchen window as Brock wandered outside with a ruined looking pan.

"-stay in placed where it's shady," Misty repeated slowly, staring at the Umbreon the whole time. With the last word, she turned her head and sniffed the air in Misty's general direction.

"She's confused, wants to know why you know her name, she wasn't called that last time she saw you…" Martha related from the ensuing nervous yips.

"Shady?" Vixie furrowed her brow as she recited the name. "Sounds familiar… Wait, wasn't that the name of Gary's Umbreon?" Shady stared at her with a clear look of horror, her scarlet eyes flashing as she yipped suddenly. The others started talking all at once as one thing after another clicked in their heads.

"She's looking for her owner?! And he went in here?!" Misty demanded.

"Easy girl! It's ok!" Martha cooed, reaching out to try and pet her to calm her.

"Panicking dark type! Not my idea of good! Big, powerful attack immanent!" Brock hollered from next door at the same time, racing back inside.

"Oh, great, Gary's in my hou-" Ash was cut off as he was nearly knocked his feet by a yellow blur, who took off alongside Shady down the street at full speed. All went silent for the next moment or two, as the humans and gijinkas struggled to determine what had just happened. "Is it just me… or did they panic when we mentioned Gary?" the others nodded slowly in response.

**********

"He did? Really… that's very interesting, I'll have to see what I can find about that type of behavior… But still no sign of Gary? I shouldn't expect him to turn up there, anyway… He probably is just getting a head start for next year, nothing to worry about. But I'll see what I can find, then get back to you Ash."

Professor Oak sighed as he hung up the phone. He knew someday that experiment would come back to haunt him, but now that it had, he couldn't believe it. And of all the times for it to go wrong…

^.^ suspense… okay, so it's relatively obvious this time (or at least I think so) but I've received enough complaints about the other style that I'm trying this once. Do you like this or the more mystery better? And sorry that I'm a little behind schedule, but all updates should be posted by the Saturday after the indicated date. I'm grounded again is what's wrong, that and a little distracted ^.~ Review, please! Ja ne to heiwa, ai Lyra-chan!


	11. Why do I care

*ahem* don't give me that look. The only thing I'm out to prove is the answer to the one question Dark Tyranitar can't answer: What Misty sees in Ash.

Ash stared at the note in his hand, and then back over at the phone in front of him. He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe what had just happened… who forfeits when they are a semi-finalist? One of the top 4 in the league, possibly going to be the number one? Not many people, but evidently the person he had been scheduled to compete against had. By default, Ash had been proclaimed the victor and would be in the finals.

His opponent was being decided at that moment.

Vixie had asked them all to stay behind, and not to come to the match. She was currently against Richie for the semi-final battle… Ash would face one of them the next day at the final. It felt almost surreal… he was already at least second place, and tomorrow he could be first.

Earlier all he could think about was how strange it would be to face a pokémon in the final battle…Vixie would never have gotten so far had she not convinced such strong wild pokémon to join her team. But now…

He stared at his pokémon, one by one, with his head slumped over the back of the chair he was sitting backwards on. Only one… he could only use one of his pokémon. Normally, it would have been Pikachu… _But Pikachu…_ Ash sighed as he recalled the last time he'd seen his friend, running alongside Gary's Umbreon through the streets. He had no idea why his pokémon had seemingly deserted him, only that Gary had apparently disappeared as well, so there were too powerful rouge pokémon on the loose in the village.

**Human? If Only…**

**11-Why do I care?**

**_Teenager Lyra_**

That's what was so surreal. He was going into the biggest match of his life with only one pokémon, and it wasn't going to be Pikachu. He didn't even have Pikachu.

Thus were the final pieces of the image… A young boy, with black hair and Tshirt, sitting backwards on his chair. His eyes covered by the brim of his hat, only the sparkle of the tears trailing down his cheeks discernable. Ash Ketchum, the boy who had once been so determined to be a Pokémon Master, would now just be happy to have his best friend back.

Misty wandered in and sat beside him, rubbing his back quietly and smiling weakly at him. He looked up at her slowly, his eyes still shadowed by his cap, and just shook his head.

"Why now, of all times…? Before... I thought he was coming back… but now I don't think he is…"

"Then I guess this isn't the best time to tell you… The egg is hatching."

"Oh that's ni- wait, it really is? As if things were horrid enough already."

"Ash! That's no way to act! I know you miss Pikachu, but we know he's somewhere inside the city, we even saw him just this morning!… And your other main pokémon is in the back yard with her boyfriend watching as their child is born, you could at least show a little thankfulness!" Ash groaned and stood up slowly, walking out of the room with his eyes still hidden by his cap.

"It's not the same… without Pikachu…" he whispered, gazing at the ceiling as hewalked outside. Little did he know that Pikachu was watching him, only about half a block away. Seeing his trainer walk outside, he perked up and started running in his direction… only to remember his current form. Instead he walked over and leaned on the wall, staring at the boy who was his best friend. Oddly enough, the form he was now in was that of his arch-rival… More ironic still, that this had been the body he'd been born into…

"Hey Ashy-boy," he mocked, trying his best to match the persona Ash would expect from Gary. "I heard about the match… You're going up against your next door neighbor probably… She's tough. Beat me, sure enough…" Ash glanced up and glared at him for a moment. _That's what Gary'd say, right? Wants to know that the only one he lost to was the first place victor…_

"What do you want, Oak? I see you finally turned up…"

"Hey, hey! Shady's missing, too. You're not the only one with a missing Pokémon, Ash…" his voice wavered as he finished the statement. _Oh, he's not missing Ash! He's right here… and you can't know, not yet, you'd never believe it…_

"Your Umbreon is with Pikachu… and he's not just a pokémon… he's my best friend, too…"

"There was once a time, Ash, when you and I were best friends… So many years ago… We let pokémon come between us…" he shook his head slowly. "*A* pokémon, more accuratly…" he whispered, thinking of the creature who's body he'd lived in for the past 10 years.

"If this is about that Pichu we found when we were 6… I'm still glad we let it go."

_But we didn't, Ash… You did, but I caught it again, took it to Grandpa… I told him I wondered, what it'd be like to be a pokémon, or maybe even that Pichu… So he showed me, made me his experiment…_ "Ash… Grandpa found that same Pichu the next day and took it in… Who do you think was your partner for all these years?"

A look of shock, followed by a sneer arose on Ash's face. "IS my partner, Gary. HE STILL IS!!!" Ash yelled in response, turning and running back into the house, the only noise coming from the yard afterwards being a very confused 'chika?' from the mother to be. Misty peeked back around the corner and made a noise of disgust.

"How could he possibly… Ugh, what do I see in that senseless jerk! I know he cares for Pikachu… But Pikachu isn't the only thing that exists on this Earth! How about you, Gary, don't you agree?"

"I'm afraid I'm a little biased, Misty. I was very close to that Pikachu, too, and I also always have been to Ash. Closer, possibly, than you, but I don't think you should go into detail to prove me wrong. Just know that, from what I know of Ash, he'll be fine after the match…" He slowly walked away, leaving a slightly dumbfounded Misty to go back to the matter at hand.

_That Pikachu tore us apart, Ash… really, I was still your best friend, that whole time… That Pichu got so full of himself when he became human that he thought nothing could stop him… I myself admit that I was somewhat of a jerk since I was so obsessed with my new powers… and I hadn't seen Ash for 4 years… but after I realized it was him, I was more than happy to become his best friend again… I know everything about you, Ash… Everything… And I am going to find that damned rodent, and bring him back here so that, regardless of me being the true him, you'll be happy again… _He glanced up and shook his head as Ash wandered sulkingly back out of the condo and over to where cheers of joy were being shouted around the corner. _That attitude isn't something even I'm used to… Misty has a point… When you're like this, why *do* we care?_

Hey, Lee-chan! I'm working your prize into the story and am going to insert a side story of Gary, Ash, and Pikachu's reactions after I'm done with this series… sorry to keep you waiting… And I hope I'm on the right track. Review, please! Ja ne to heiwa, ai Teenager Lyra!


End file.
